The Walking Dead Season 6 Finale – Welcome Negan, but goodbye to who?

With the Walking Dead season 6 finale still fresh in our minds, the big question everyone is asking is which of our beloved cast members are we going to have to say goodbye too at the start of season 7?

The finale of season 6 was a tense, bleak episode with a near constant state of despair that gradually got worse and worse until it peaked at the very end of the episode. The acting was nothing short of phenomenal (here’s looking at you, Andrew Lincoln) and even the most hardcore, emotionally stable fan would have been hard pressed to not share in the character’s anxiety as the situation just continued to worsen. With each roadblock, with each bleak line out of the wordsmith Abraham’s mouth and with the clear slow decline of Rick’s mood as he realise how they were in over their head it was clear AMC were setting us up for one hell of a final scene. If they wanted to give us an episode to remember the series by, AMC more than achieved it. However, if they wanted to give us an episode to be satisfied by, there are many (me included) that feel they fell short at the last hurdle.

Negan and the ‘line up’ of the cast in the final scene. Credit: The Verge.com

As Negan prowled in front of the the group, now completely at his mercy and helpless on their knees, you just wanted the tension of who he would pick over. Jeffery Dean Morgan played Negan almost too well as he tortuously teased and played with our emotions as he jumped from fan favourite to fan favourite deciding which one he would cut from our Walking Dead lives for good. When he had picked we were given a first person perspective of the victim which at first seemed like a clever way to just draw out the anticipation a bit more, but as the episode faded to black I, and many others, were left in disgruntled shock at the lack of the confirmation AMC gave us over which character met their match with Negan’s bat, Lucille.

Lucille and the comic book Negan. Credit: Comicbook.com

Warning: Potential season 7 spoilers ahead.

If you’ve read the comic’s, you already feel like you have a good idea of who it is going to be. Of course in TWD comics written by Robert Kirkman, Glenn is the unfortunate person to meet Lucille, and this alone makes him a hot contender. The show has followed the books fairly faithfully, however they also haven’t shy to deviate from them either – such in the case of Daryl (who doesn’t exist in the comics), and a number of characters who have stuck around longer than their comic version, or been changed quite dramatically. But, the comic’s and the show have enough of a similarity to keep people guessing it could be Glenn. Glenn’s death has also been teased to us multiple times this season, first with him rolling under a garbage bin to save himself, and secondly with a close call while rescuing Maggie, but it would also be one of the deaths to upset and shake up the group the most – which is possibly what AMC and Negan would want going into season 7. Some fan’s are so determined to find the answer the final scene’s audio is being analysed and slowed down, which many feels is even more evidence of Glenn’s demise (see below).

However, there are other front runners. Eugene is a popular choice, especially as the show (whether intentionally or not) have been seemingly concluding his character arc. First there was the obvious scene of him giving the bullet recipe to Rick and perhaps serving his last purpose to the group, but also with how his character has developed from someone who was unable to defend himself and fearful of the zombies, to being brave enough to drive the RV and attempt to distract Negan’s crew from the others.

Abraham is also someone who is being highly considered. For starters, Abraham’s death in the comics has already passed when he was meant to be shot on the train tracks by Dwight, who instead shot Denise. But also, he was not afraid of Negan and showed him as much, squaring up to him when he walked passed, and, after all, if you want to scare a group you’d kill the big, fearless guy, right? Another reason is Abraham’s character had also started to find his place in the group, particularly the budding romance with Sasha, and as we all know this puts a target directly on his back to stir some drama.

However, thanks to AMC, we won’t know for certain who we are saying goodbye too and it only will be speculation until season 7 when it is revealed. Let’s just hope they are kind to us and let us know at the start, instead of dragging out revealing who it was. Who do you think (or hope) it is or isn’t? Is Glenn too obvious? Would it be too much of a disappointment if they did change it from Glen? Let us know your thoughts!